Chula Vista  The Sweetwater Union High School District is paying $250 per hour for a communications professional working for the district’s lawyers on labor negotiations.

The Watchdog decided to review the bills of the public-relations consultant, former Chula Vista Councilman Scott Alevy, as part of an ongoing review of the district’s administrative practices.

The district declined to release the billings, citing attorney-client privilege. The Watchdog obtained them through other means, and confirmed them with district officials.

Alevy billed $9,300 from November through February, for 27 line items.

Eight of the line items involved meetings with the district’s law firm, Garcia Calderon Ruiz LLP. Ten of the line items mentioned unnamed people Alevy met with, such as “key influencers” or “retired district educators.” He declined to identify them.

Two of the items were independently verified, including $500 to attend a South County Economic Development Council breakfast Dec. 7; Alevy’s name appears on the sign-in list for the breakfast, according to staff with the council.

In the seven remaining billings, Alevy named individuals he met with and subjects they discussed. The Watchdog was able to reach people mentioned in six of those meetings, totaling $1,875 in charges to the district. In some cases, the parties involved had different recollections of the substance of the meetings or even whether they took place.

When asked about the discrepancies, Alevy at first said, “Evidently, I’m a very forgettable person.”

Later, Alevy sent an email standing behind his billings and saying the conversations were confidential.

“The results of your inquiries clearly show that those conversations are still considered confidential by those who participated in the discussions,” Alevy said. “I stand by the reporting of professional services I submitted.”

The Watchdog then went back to individuals named in the invoices and asked whether they had concealed their meetings due to confidentiality concerns.

Partner Bonifacio Garcia said in a statement, “Mr. Alevy is a distinguished member of the San Diego and South Bay communities with a reputation for honesty and truthfulness. To the best of my knowledge he has never lied to me.”

Superintendent Jesus Gandara said the charges are handled by Garcia’s firm.

“Bonny is dealing with him regarding negotiations, and that information is privileged,” Gandara said. “I am only briefed as to where we are, what do we think regarding the big picture of negotiations, as is true for most superintendents.”

Alevy was a Chula Vista City councilman from 1995-96, served a president of the South County Economic Development Council from 2005-06 and vice president of public policy for the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce from 2006-08. In addition to Alevy Communications, Alevy is the principal at La Mesa-based Trilogy PR Group and president of the East County Chamber of Commerce.

Here is the date, duration, charge and description of professional services from invoices submitted by Alevy Communications, along with accounts offered by those mentioned in the billings when contacted by The Watchdog: